Well, I guess I didn't really expect to be sitting here right now, in the office at 10 p.m. on a Thursday night.

Though the days have been long and the hours many, the 9 a.m.-10 p.m. day isn't healthy for anyone. Sure, you say, investment bankers and doctors and accountants, etc., etc. etc. do this all the time ! What's the big deal?

None, I suppose. It's just not what I expected to be doing tonight.

The plan was to breeze through the day -- file a quick story about a bad school district and go home early to pick up the neglected dry cleaning, which, incidentally has been sitting at the Georgetown Valet for an entire week since I'm never home before 7 p.m. to pick it up.

So file the story I did -- neatly tucked it in before 3 p.m. Beautiful.

But, it's not time to leave yet -- I got word that another of my stories from earlier in the week got bumped to Friday's paper, so I decided that I'd report a little deeper on the issue (OTC drugs - snore) and re-file the story with a little more context. No problem. By 4:30 p.m., I'm in with 2 stories.

Just about when I'm ready to leave, a little birdie tells me the transportation bill is working its way through committee and it's expected to pass the House and the Senate before legislative break -- which starts next week.

Damn, B.

South Carolina hates their highways -- especially Hilton Head. At least three times a week over the past month, the Island Packet pastes a story about all of the problems that U.S. 278 and U.S. 17 have been giving them. Traffic congestion, accidents, construction, etc.

It's a pretty big deal to them -- and you know what that means (well, obviously... I already told you that it is 10 p.m. and I'm still here.)

The committee hashes out final details at 630, and I get on the horn with a local DOT guy, Sen. Jim DeMint and Rep. Joe Wilson (now that I've got his celly, so I can hit him on the hip anytime I please, nice). Start writing at 745.

So, by 900, the story's finished, clocking in at 650 words and I'm getting edited. Word.

A half-hour later, I'm sitting here waiting for the story to be cleared by heaquarters, and I'm... Oh, nevermind, he just called... Now I'm going home. Thank You.

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A couple of quick tidbits: I had two job interviews last week. Both were done over the tele and both went, in my estimation, very well.

Well enough that I have a follow up interview with an editor next week in person, and a test to take for the other editor to prove that I'm worthy.

After today, I'll have been published 21 times in the last 30 days. That makes me happy. Who knew D.C. did such good things for a career...

Finally, I'm visiting Camden Yards tomorrow for a showdown between your Baltimore Orioles and the Chicago Pale-Hose. The cool thing: I'll be sitting about 6 rows back from the Home dugout in George F. Will's season tickets. Nice. That's right, George F. Will -- the famous syndicated columnist.

So, when I finally meet him, I'll be able to tell him all about how I sat in his seats, blah blah blah, while he's offering me a job.

O-Tay. That's it. I'm going home.

The good news: Three stories in tomorrow's paper.
The better news: Two stories on the front page.
The best news: I'm going home next weekend!

The bad news: It's going to take me an hour to get home.
The worse news: It's 10 p.m. and I'm writing in a blog.
The worst news: I have a blog.

Hey -- at least I don't have Sea Scabies like our friend Scooter over at the 19th Hole.

God Speed, Scooter. God Speed.